I signed up for Blizzard’s Annual Pass cause it was a no brainer for someone like me that hasn’t suspended or cancelled my main two accounts in over 5 years.

So it’s understandable that I’ve been waiting on the MoP Beta since October 2011 when I signed up. All information available stated that Annual Pass subscribers would be invited in waves based upon when you signed up and longevity of your account, etc. I was disappointed to not be among the first 300,000 invited as I signed up at BlizzCon.

Well, I finally got my invite! I had downloaded the client long before that happened. After hours of trying to get the Beta to load properly, I finally got to the loading screen.

I decided to make a female Pandaran, because we had to wait so long to see the current model.

I remember playing a Pandaran at BlizzCon 2011 only to find that the female Pandarans at that time were just male NPCs with a little pink bow and a sign over their heads that say “I’m a Female.” Funny and weird at the same time. LOL 🙂

Now this is a nice change of pace!

I’ve mentioned before that female Draenei were hot, but Pandaran Chicks are SMOK’N HOT!!

I especially like watching my toon run! Something about her tush swaying back and forth…Ahem!

Anyways!

The Starting Zone was pretty much how I remembered it from BlizzCon except for one thing. . . .

I thought the Panda starting zones were crowded when I was at BlizzCon. This was ridiculous!

As usual, players trying the get/turn in quests to the quest givers block access for other players. And I’m sure there are a number of Jerks that think it is funny to block other people’s progress. It’s unfortunate, but I guess it’s unavoidable.

It took me several hours to complete the quest here. I started it the day I logged in and finally completed it the next morning as many of the “children” left for school or work.

There are no side quest to take in Beta. If you don’t complete the required quest, you will not be able to progress further. As such, there were many characters from the previous day attempting to complete this quest.

But Hey, it’s Beta! You gotta expect that!

I also remember the initial pictures of the Vermin. This is what they looked like as of BlizzCon 2011

This is what they look like in Beta

Not as cute as envisioned, but you still want to kill them because they are them!

It seems to me that many people are looking at the next expansion, Mist of Pandaria, as a nice little piece of fluff that signals that Blizzard has lost its edge and catering to the “casual” player. That the Pandaren storyline is not relevent to the overall theme of World of Warcraft.

Many view the Pandarans like this:

While I choose to want/view Pandarans as this:

Truth is, this is SUPPOSED TO BE the CALM before the storm of WAR.

Think about it. You can’t fire a weapon forever. It has to cool down sometime. Maybe even get some maintenance. So those of you out there that think Mist of Pandaria is just some fluff should look at it as sort of a cool down before jumping back into action. Sure, the landscape is majestic and pretty, but keep playing and you will eventually zone into some action. Not to mention that the Monk Panda has some pretty nice animated moves so far!

With the exception of Vanilla WoW, Horde and Alliance HAD to work together. The villans were so powerful, it required cooperation of both opposing factions.

In some ways, it seemed kinda stupid though. I mean Horde and Alliance needed to work together to stop the Evil Threat but they still continued to fight with each other. How do you join forces against a common enemy when you continue to create casualties on both sides?

My point is this – You can’t constantly be in a state of Conflict.

EVENTUALLY there is a time of PEACE or at least recovery before the next big Battle or War.

The world did not go DIRECTLY into World War II the day after World War I.

A Heavyweight Champion does not schedule another Title Fight the day after he wins his current title.

Mist of Pandaria is supposed to provide that needed break to get ready for the next big conflict. Not for the Horde or Alliance, but for the subscribers.

As a veteran player you had to gear up to fight the Burning Legion and Illidan or try to get to Sunwell. Then there was the constant gearing up for ICC and eventually the Lich King. Deathwing throws a tantrum and messes up everything – now we have to kick his arse! From a linear point of view, it seems never-ending. No humanoid species can endure that constant barrage of conflict and threat. (well, except the undead)

In Mist of Pandaria, we get back to the time when there was no supervillan to take care of. In fact, the cause of the problems on Pandaria is due to the conflict between the Horde and Alliance. The only real bad guy is the one you’ve been dying to take care of once and for all!

As a veteran WoW player, wouldn’t it be more epic to REALLY FIGHT the opposing faction as the MAIN point of this game??? I think so!

So you get a chance to see some Pandas. Learn how to be a Monk and then sway some of those Pandas to your factions agenda .

Everyone picks sides and then we go at it! Yes! Finally!

Only problem, there are several other native races out there to deal with at the same time and THEN you have to deal with some misty manifestation of Evil (the Sha) causing problems while you’re trying to get all that done! Fantastic! Hope you all had your Orange Juice!!

The Sha which turns out to be the manifestation of negative energy. Initial concept drawings give the impression that they are like Void Walkers. I haven’t seen any additional pictures of them outside of BlizzCon, so it will be interesting seeing what the final animation will look like in the Beta and Live games.

But take heart! You get to make some native friends to help you out!

If you are Alliance, you have partnered up with the Hozu.

If you are Horde, you have hooked up with the Jinyu.

Along the way you have the nuisance of the Verming. (Who I would already like to kill by the thousands)

The Mantid, which is a sentient insect like creature, doesn’t look like their on the list of friendlies.

And the Mogu look like they have a bad attitude to start with!

There you have it! You get all involved in your faction’s war against the other and you have little mutant rabbits and insectoids and people with bad attitudes to deal with IN ADDITION to some Evil Manifestation sneaking up on you when you’re not looking …Great!

So that is WHY you need to have Pandas! A little calm and comic relief to enjoy before the next War!

Well its been a while since BlizzCon, and I’m still putting thoughts together about the upcoming expansion.

I guess it was the fact that, for three days, I was right in the middle of two of the happiest places in the world – Disney Land and BlizzCon!

Today, I want to give anyone who graces my blog my opinion on the Mist of Pandaria and it’s starting zone.

I know a lot of people think that Pandas in World of Warcraft are a step back for the franchise.

I can see the so-called “hardcore” players saying that. After all, Pandas are cute, right? I mean, I like Jack Black, but he’s only gonna kick a lot of Arse because it’s written in the script.

But to me, there is something so cool about a Beer-Bellied Bear that can whip some Arse then sit down with you and have a brew!!! Its like – “Lets see what you got . . . ok good . . Lets have a drink!

Reminds me of a time when I took the Physical Agility portion of the Police Exam. In my group of applicants were some strong contenders from the looks of them. Now, I’m no runner type and I certainly don’t have a runners body. But my group was sent off to attempt the 2 mile run portion of the exam. I noticed one other guy in the group that I think weighed in at 300+ lbs. We’ll call him Mr. Panda. In fact, I think he was pretty much shaped like a Panda. (but a little rounder)

We lined up at the starting line and ready, set , go! Some of my group shot down the coarse like they were being chased by Deathwing or something. Some of us (me) were pacing ourselves. There is a time limit on the run, but you don’t get any medal for the fastest time. So I paced myself to make it a few seconds under the mark.

Since most of the group has run past me, I’m gonna stay near 300lb guy, cause he was keeping a good pace. He looked like he was gonna pass out any second . . . but he’s keeping a good pace.

MY PLAN was to stay with this guy and sprint the last 500 feet to make myself look good. (don’t judge me!) Leaving Mr. Panda in the dust. Well . . Mr. Panda picked up the pace considerably! (He apparently had the same plan) It took all I had to beat that guy to the finish line. In the end, everyone (including me) had a deeper respect for this guy, cause we all judged him on his looks. However, he MORE than exceeded our expectations!

I think Mist of Pandaria will do the same!

Ready? . . . Set . . . GO GO GO GO GO GO!!!

I had the privilege of playing the Mist of Pandaria demo at BlizzCon and it was much fun and very amusing.

It has been a while since I have seen so many people in a starting zone. I only wish I had tried to whisper someone and ask that person to stand up for a second so I could see how close or far from me they were. Don’t even know if you COULD do that, because I was so into playing the toon.

The Character Screen is familiar and it being a Mist of Pandaria demo, it only showed your beginning Panda with the available classes for your black and white bear.

I wish I could say I was smart enough to have rolled a Monk right off the bat. Habit had me pick a name (Zaren), choose a class, (Warrior) and hit GO!

Even though my first Pandarian was not a monk, it was fun running around completing quest and exploring the starting zone. My level One Warrior owned all foes that he came up against! Unfortunately, I wasn’t focused and only leveled to level 3 during the twenty-minute period that we were allowed to play. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and quickly got back in line to roll a monk.

OK! Made my Pandarian Monk, (Zaren) and got my first quest and quickly donned my weapon and moved on to the next quest.

The Starting Zone was very bright and Oriental in nature. The Main Temple was fun to run through although it took me a while to find the scrolls that I needed. Remember there are at least a hundred other people crammed into this zone picking up the needed items.

As I progressed, I had to fight several NPCs to complete the quest I was on. This being a Demo, most of the NPCs looked alike. (not being prejudice) It was funny, however, that the female Panda looked the same, but had a subtext that said, “I’m A Girl!” Nice! 🙂

Again with all the players in the same zone completing the same quest, it took a while to fight the correct number of NPCs. You really have to get that first hit in quick, because another player would roll over to the NPC you want to fight and tag it before you even get to the NPC. Mission accomplished! On to the next quest! Slowly but surely, you make your way away from the Temple to complete other objectives. Over all it was extremely fun and I can’t wait to have my permanent Pandarian!

Some of the zones felt a little vague and incomplete, but what could you expect as the expansion was just announced earlier that day? I’m sure all of this stuff will change by the Beta and again when it goes live. Even so, I can’t wait to try it all out.

A lot of bloggers and fan sites are currently talking about talents, but I think it’s way too early to put that much attention to them. As with Beta everything changes prior to LIVE.

Whether you think Pandas are silly and should not be a part of WoW Lore or you can’t wait to play these bouncy guys, you will enjoy seeing their story unfold and be interested how the developers and historians work this idea into the current game.

Is it just me or does this one look like it was inspired by Dr. Seuss?

More BlizzCon pictures from the seat of the Ice Throne! If only my toilet was built like this!!

Between my cell phone and camera, I am still finding pics that I took at BlizzCon 2011.

Goblin Engineers are everywhere

There was a wall to write your name on that was later defaced by some guild or player that covered up a majority of names. A second wall was made available later and my wife and I got our names up on that one also!

Luckly, Zaren, (next to Stap) managed to find a spot on the original wall out of the way of taggers that wanted to monopolize wall space.

My Lovely Wife (Princess!) managed to find a spot on the wall also!

Some fantastic artwork donned the floor of Blizzcon!

I wouldn’t want to see this guy coming full speed towards me . . ever!

An awesome statue of “Tyrael” from Diablo.

I’ve said it before . . . Dranaei chicks are hot!

It wasn’t REALLY warm that day, but Dude HAD TO BE SWEATING in this thing!

She was just HOT! Mmmmmm!

My first Blizzcon was very awesome!

It was nice to be in a place where Geeks and Nerds could just be Geeks and Nerds! We Owned the Streets during those days!! NO ONE was gonna mess with us!!

Coming from Chicago, I get different vibes about places I visit in my travels. Anaheim, California felt very safe and relaxed to walk around in.

I dare say that even if trouble were to befall convention goers there in Anaheim, Horde would help out Alliance and Visa Versa.

I have read various blogs that weight the effectiveness of the new feature that Blizzard Entertainment has announced recently. That feature is “Annual Pass.”

Blizzard’s Annual Pass has made some subscribers (current and former) complain about having to commit to a year’s subscription to get some free stuff. I don’t see how current players can complain other than not being able to let their account become inactive. Former players have the legitimate concern that the cost to catch up to what will be the current version will far outweight the free download of Diablo III, a Beta key, an in-game pet and mount.

I personally don’t mind as I have not suspended my two main accounts since the day I activated them four years ago. With that being said, it is curious that I kind of hesitated accepting Blizzard’s offer.

I knew that I was going to purchase and play Diablo III when it comes out.

I know I plan to continue to play WoW until that happens.

I definitely want the mount. (don’t judge me)

I guess the thing that bothers me most was the fact that I will also automatically get a Beta Test Key to test the Mist of Pandaria expansion when it comes out.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve always wanted to beta test a WoW expansion. (especially with the amount of time I have devoted to WoW) However, this (in a way) feels sort of like I bought gold from a gold seller or something.

You see, Beta Keys (to me) seemed random and special. It was like someone at Blizz said, “Hey, we’d like you to give us your idea on how the game is working, cause we know you love WoW and have devoted so much time to the development of your characters even though you have a full-time job!”

Now, just because that same full-time job can allow me to afford a year’s subscription, I AUTOMATICALLY get a Beta Key??

OH. . . I WILL take the key, but somehow it doesn’t feel a special as I thought it would be, ya know?

I am not one to knock Blizzard and WoW, because I love both. If I felt the need to Troll either, I wouldn’t even post it, cause I can’t stand people who do so! They should just move on and not bother tainting the newer subscribers . . . but I digress.

Part of the enjoyment I get from the game was working toward a goal and finally achieving said goal. None of these goals involved paying real or virtual cash to complete the task. So, in a way, that’s what it feels like to me.

I also know that Blizzard doesn’t want to give away a million Betas even though that could equate to a guaranteed additional million subscribers for a year. I assume at some point the Beta offer will end while still allowing to obtain some loot for the subscription commitment.

Again for me, I will continue to pay a subscription fee regardless of the outcome. I will end up getting a free copy of Diablo III and a chance to be like TotalHalibut on Youtube.com. Man…now I’ve got to order Fraps!!

Besides Beta has all the hiccups and glitches that could be more annoying that fun! Well, I want to experience them anyway!!

Is anyone else out there going to take advantage of this offer? Do you think it is fair for Blizz to force a one-year subscription out of you to ensure the success of the new arrival to their gaming arsenal?

Wow!

I’ve been doing renovations on the house, so I haven’t been playing my main, Zaren. Didn’t want to get all caught up in a quest line or whatever and then have to abandon him for a bit.

I’ve been running around on low-level alts just to wind down after building something, and guest what?

No more low-level characters!

My Paladin started at level 12 and I did a post about him making it to level 22. (deleted most of my Pallys by level 15)

Now my Paladin is level 60 from just a half hour play each night! At least it seems that way!

Seems like yesterday when I got him his new War Horse and some plate gear. He was a skinner/flower picker for the cash. Now he’s an Alchemist/Herbalist, cause I’m tired of paying too much for mana pots! Now he’s rockin a new Charger and he can fly in Outland and Vanilla Wow. I had to do two levels without a flying mount, so it sucked not getting to herb nodes until now. Oh Yeah! Got to get him a Winged Guardian too!

Been running him as a Holy Paladin. Probably will keep him Holy until level 70. It’s been so long since I’ve Tanked level 60 content, but I do remember level 70 dungeons. I can’t wait!

Maybe time to roll another character? I still need a Tailor and Inscription guy.